Eagles stun Bucs in thrilling finish

Left tackle King Dunlap #65 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates the winning… (J. Meric/Getty Images )

December 09, 2012|By Nick Fierro, Of The Morning Call

TAMPA, Fla. — — The most puzzling Philadelphia Eagles game of the season was a tale of two comebacks, with some old-fashioned, fourth-quarter desperation providing the fuel for a 23-21 victory over the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Rookie quarterback Nick Foles hit Jeremy Maclin with a 1-yard scoring pass on the game's final play from scrimmage as the Eagles (4-9) broke an eight-game losing streak and came away with perhaps their most improbable win in decades, considering what happened immediately after Damaris Johnson fumbled away a punt return early in the third quarter.

Leading 10-0 and dominating on defense, the Eagles temporarily lost their fighting spirit after that play, and the Bucs (6-7) responded with three touchdowns for a 21-10 lead.

But Foles and an offense that was stifled on the ground all day pulled it back together and pulled one out with two late touchdowns sandwiched around a crucial defensive stop.

Foles (32-for-51, 381 yards, two TDs) put together a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives, the second of which gave him his first career win after an excruciatingly long replay review of the final play. In addition, his passing yardage and completion totals from this game stand as franchise rookie records.

But it was the shortest pass of the game that was the most important, as Foles rolled to his right and hit Maclin just before he tumbled out of the front corner of the end zone.

Foles had lobbied for that play in the timeout called just before it was executed, and Eagles coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg needed no convincing.

"He called it, he wanted it and he did a great job executing it," Reid said. "Hat's off to him. He came off [the field[ and he wanted that play. That's a play that we had in the game plan for that situation, and that's the one he like the best and he was feeling it.

"That's a great thing when your quarterback is in tune like that."

Once Maclin saw how the defense was aligned, there was little doubt in his mind that he would make the play.

"I knew I had a god opportunity of getting this ball," he said. "Nick put the ball down and away like he was supposed to, I went down, got the ball, made sure I was in bounds and the rest is history."

Foles was as lucky as he was good in that final series, nearly having a couple of errant passes picked off. However, his poise won out over all. Just on the hurried spike to stop the clock with 2 seconds remaining — the Eagles were out of timeouts — a thousand things could have gone wrong, and a penalty on the Eagles there would have ended it.

Foles began the game-winning march at his own 36 with 2:44 remaining, connecting with Maclin on a 4-yard pass. Despite being sacked on the next play, he responded with a 23-yard strike to Maclin on third-and-14, and it was game on.

Later, he kept the drive going by scrambling for a first down on fourth-and-1.

But the coup de grace came four plays later, on fourth-and-5 from the 23. Foles threw just short of the end zone and hit Jason Avant in the middle of the field for a 22-yard gain. Avant hit the ground with 9 seconds to go, forcing a mad dash by his teammates to the new line of scrimmage to get set, snap the ball and spike it, which Foles did with 2 seconds to spare.

Then, just before the snap, Bucs coach Greg Schiano called timeout, which might have served to ice his squad and prevent the Eagles from rushing themselves. On the Eagles' sideline, all Foles, Reid and Mornhinweg did was reaffirm their conviction in the play call, which Foles went on to explain.

"I just like a movement play in that situation because it changes the throwing lanes," Foles said. "If you're in the pocket, a guy can undercut it. Whereas if you're on the run, there's no undercut. I just like movement plays. It felt good. It was the first play that came to my head."

That he could be thinking that clearly at that point in the game might have been the most remarkable aspect of all.

Foles took a beating in this contest, taking six sacks and barely eluding around a dozen more. The Bucs' defensive front was as formidable as any the Eagles have faced this season, completely shutting down rookie running back Bryce Brown (12 carries, 6 yards), who had rushed for 169 and 178 yards in his previous two games.

"Looking back on it," guard Evan Mathis said, "It looked like it played out the way it might. [The Bucs] are tremendous against the run, but we beat them. They had some good recognition of what we were running, they had some good blitzes called into runs. I don't know if that's good luck or good recognition.

"But then our coaches and Nick saw what was there in the passing game and just kept executing."

Still, the Eagles had established complete control by the end of the first half, rolling to a 10-0 lead that could have been 13-0 if Alex Henery hadn't missed a field-goal attempt from 58 yards as time expired.